Take a moment to smell the roses! But first, put your phone away. Here’s how.
Leave your phone at home.
Breathe. It’s going to be ok. Ask yourself: do you really need your phone when driving to the post office? Or on the way to the movies? Challenge yourself to a few truly phone-free minutes every day. Then increase the time you spend not clutching your phone. It’ll feel liberating.
Airplane mode is for more than just when you’re on an airplane.
When you know you want to dedicate the hour to catching up with an old friend, put those push notifications on hold, send those calls directly to voicemail, in other words, enjoy life a little. Disconnecting from the virtual world can help you reconnect to the real one.
Hide your phone.
Or just make it hard to reach — especially while driving. No excuses. You don’t need to text while you’re on the way to the grocery store. It’s the law. Oh and your life could depend on it, so there’s that too.
Keep it in your pants. At least at dinner.
There are few things more sad than people sharing a meal and looking at their phones. And if you’re worried, your instagram will survive if you don’t post a picture of what you last ate, trust us.
Use a watch.
Watches are incredibly stylish and an amazing addition to any outfit, day or night. Take it as an excuse to treat yourself to a classic accessory. And when you need to know what time it is, you won’t get distracted by other notifications on your phone.
Carry around a datebook.
This is for those truly dedicated to reducing screen time. No, it won’t sync to your google, ical, or outlook calendars, but it will feel great to actually “pencil” something in. Plus, studies show that physically writing things down actually helps you remember them. Win win!
Break that addiction.
When you wake up in the morning, don’t reach for your phone. Start your day thoughtfully. Meditate, stretch, prepare a good breakfast. You’ll discover that your emails can wait half an hour. Give yourself a little “you time” before plunging right back into your smartphone.
Remember alarm clocks?
It’s time to invest in one again. It does all the things you want: make noise at a certain time, snooze for another nine minutes, make noise again. Voilà.
Change the color of your screen.
The ultimate phone hack. The more colorful and pretty our screens, the more pleasure we get from looking at them. Change the settings to grey scale and you’ll be surprised how less exciting it is to check your phone every five minutes.
